by Kimberly Easson
When I visited Nicaragua last summer to help Equator launch a new partnership with the Santo Domingo Cooperative, I was prepared to taste some really great coffee. Yet nothing could have prepared me for the stunning beauty of the countryside and the ecological soundness of the cooperative’s small family farms. Set in the rugged, yet lush mountains of Northern Nicaragua, a four-hour drive from the capital of Managua, Santo Domingo’s members’ small farms are difficult to spot under the dense canopy of shade trees.